Hungarian tennis player Tímea Babos and her partner French Kristina Mladenovic defended their doubles world champion title in the final of the WTA Tournament with a great game, defeating the pair of 2nd seeded Taiwanese Hsie Suwei and Czech Barbora Strýcová 6: 1, 6: 3 in Shenzhen. Babos even made tennis history, winning her third consecutive world champion title.
The Babos-Mladenovic double won all three of their matches with a 100% performance in the group stage, then beat Samantha Stosur and Chang Suaj in the semifinals in a close match on Saturday. In the final, they played with the team who beat them in the Wimbledon semifinals, but this time, the Hungarian-French duo outperformed them and defended last year’s world champion title in the WTA Finals, earning USD 1 million, one of the highest prizes in professional doubles tennis.
Your 2019 @Shiseido_corp @WTAFinals Shenzhen doubles champions!
Lift that 🏆, @KikiMladenovic and @TimeaBabos! pic.twitter.com/8cmqqpL44l
— WTA (@WTA) 2019. november 3.
Both Babos and Mladenovic called it a surreal experience to win the title again. Babos said after her third consecutive win – two of them with Mladenovic:
I don’t think we understand what just happened. It’s really such an honor to be here and to be among such great champions and great competitors. It’s an amazing experience to once again stand here.
Your 2019 @Shiseido_corp @WTAFinals Shenzhen doubles champions!
Lift that 🏆, @KikiMladenovic and @TimeaBabos! pic.twitter.com/8cmqqpL44l
— WTA (@WTA) 2019. november 3.
Mladenovic added that they knew that the little things are those that make a difference, but
It’s the friendship we have together that carries us. It’s very special and strong.
Adding in her champion’s speech, “I’m just very proud of my girl standing next to me!”
Babos and Mladenovic first came to Singapore together, each qualifying for their first WTA Finals in 2015. The duo split soon after, only to reunite in 2018. Since then, they have won several tournaments together, including two WTA World Championships and two Grand Slams: the French Open Roland Garros this year and the Australian Open last year.
featured photo: WTA Twitter